Scottish Parliament

Written Answers

Thursday 22 July 1999

Scottish Executive

Child Support Agency

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has been consulted on Her Majesty’s Government’s proposed changes to the administration of child support through the Child Support Agency and, if so, what representations it has made.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Executive is in contact with the United Kingdom Government across a range of issues, including those relating to welfare.

Drug Enforcement Agency

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the cost of the Drug Enforcement Agency will be met from existing Police budgets.

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what is the cost of establishing the Drug Enforcement Agency.

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many Police Officers it plans to appoint to the Drug Enforcement Agency.

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to recruit officers for the Drug Enforcement Agency from existing Police staffing levels.

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide details of its plans for the relationship between the Drug Enforcement Agency and Customs and Excise.

Angus MacKay: I refer the member to the answer I gave today, to Mr Keith Raffan’s question number S1W-488.

Drug Enforcement Agency

Mr Keith Raffan (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what is the total level of funding provided to drug action teams in the current financial year.

Angus MacKay: A total of £500,812 has been allocated in this financial year to provide administrative support to Drug Action Teams.

Drug Enforcement Agency

Mr Keith Raffan (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what were the key findings of the recent review of the effectiveness of drug action teams.

Angus MacKay: The evaluation identified the need for more vigorous performance management of Drug Action Teams (DATs) by the Scottish Executive, and for a greater focus by DATs on developing partnership working at local level.

Drug Enforcement Agency

Mr Keith Raffan (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to provide additional resources to drug action teams in order to increase services for drug misusers in the Fife, Forth Valley and Tayside Health Board areas.

Angus MacKay: The provision of additional resources to assist Drug Action Teams (DATs) directly in implementing the Government’s strategy Tackling Drugs in Scotland: Action in Partnership , is currently under consideration. Funding for drug misuse services, is provided through the constituent agencies represented on the DATs and it is for them to decide the priority to be attached to the problem. Spending on drug treatment in Scotland over the next year has already been boosted as a result of the £6 million increase in drug treatment funding for the three year period from April 1999. Additional resources allocated to Fife, Forth Valley and Tayside Health Boards in this financial year amount to £102,702, £64,699 and £176,292 respectively.

  Additional resources have also been provided to Scottish local authorities in 1999-2000 for their social work services. These include services for people with drug related problems, which cannot be separately identified. Social Work spending in Scotland will increase by £43 million in 2000-01 and a further £36 million in 2001-2002. These resources have still to be allocated to individual Councils.

Drug Enforcement Agency

Mr Keith Raffan (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether MI6 will be involved in working with the Drug Enforcement Agency.

Angus MacKay: I refer the Member to my answer to his earlier question S1W-488.

Drug Enforcement Agency

Mr Keith Raffan (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will outline its strategy for the Drug Enforcement Agency, and confirm whether its principal target will be major drug traffickers and suppliers and not minor user dealers.

Angus MacKay: The Scottish Executive is consulting with the police, Customs, the Scottish Crime Squad, the National Criminal Intelligence Service and other relevant agencies in developing proposals for taking forward the Drugs Enforcement Agency concept. When this process has been completed over the summer we will make an announcement about the emerging plans including membership, strategy, structure, staffing, resources, links with police forces, links with other organisations, timescale for implementation, and other relevant matters. It is important that this process is carried out carefully to ensure that the arrangements which emerge build on the efforts of the existing organisations charged with fighting crime.

Drug Enforcement Agency

Mr Keith Raffan (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to consult on how the Drug Enforcement Agency will operate and whether the consultation will include the Scottish Advisory Committee on Drug Misuse, the Scottish Drugs Forum and COSLA.

Mr Keith Raffan (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to provide additional resources to the Scottish Courts and the Scottish Prison Services to deal with the potential increase in the number of prosecutions and imprisonments arising from the work of the Drug Enforcement Agency.

Mr Keith Raffan (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to initiate a parliamentary debate on the role and purpose of the Drug Enforcement Agency.

Mr Keith Raffan (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what will be the cost of setting up the Drug Enforcement Agency, what will be the its total budget in the first year of operation and whether it will provide a breakdown of that budget by cost of premises, staff, administration, and other costs.

Mr Keith Raffan (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive where it plans to locate the Drug Enforcement Agency.

Mr Keith Raffan (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive who it plans to appoint as Chief Executive of the Drug Enforcement Agency.

Mr Keith Raffan (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what will be the organisational structure of the Drug Enforcement Agency and how will it relate to the existing police forces, their drug squads and Custom and Excise.

Angus MacKay: I refer the Member to my answer to his earlier question S1W-488.

Enterprise

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish details of the expenditure by Scottish Trade International for each of the last two years and its budget for the current year.

Henry McLeish: Scottish Trade International is a joint organisation between the Scottish Executive and Scottish Enterprise. Each organisation contributes to staffing and related expenditure, in addition Scottish Enterprise also provides additional funding for programme expenditure. Details are as follows:

  

 

1997-98
  

1998-99
  

1999-2000
  


 

£k
  

£k
  

£k
  



Staffing & 
  associated costs
  
 
 
 



Scottish Enterprise
  

837
  

869
  

1,182
  



Scottish Executive
  

780
  

770
  

840
  



Staffing Costs 
  
  

1,617
  

1,639
  

2,022
  



Programme Costs 
  
  

7,036
  

6,730
  

6,000
  



TOTAL
  

8,653
  

8,369
  

8,022

Finance

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to implement the Financial Issues Advisory Group recommendations in full and, if not, to state precisely which of the recommendations it does not intend to implement in full.

Mr Jack McConnell: In both the Statement I made to Parliament on Thursday 24 June, and my presentation to the joint committees on Wednesday 30 June I made clear our intention to broadly accept the FIAG report. The annex to the report presented to the committees on 30 June included detailed information on each recommendation.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to reassure junior doctors of its commitment to the target of "56 actual hours worked" as set out in the New Deal for Junior Doctors 1991 .

Susan Deacon: A commitment to the achievement of the 56 hour target here in Scotland has already been given and I can restate our determination to see that fully implemented. We have announced joint plans with the British Medical Association (BMA) to support NHS Trusts’ implementation of New Deal standards and I have written to the Chairman of the Junior Doctors Committee in Scotland to arrange a meeting to discuss this and other issues concerning junior doctors.

Health

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide details by health board area of the number of patients with multiple sclerosis who are currently being prescribed betaferon and to outline the policy of each health board towards the prescription of betaferon.

Susan Deacon: It is not possible to identify the number of patients with Multiple Sclerosis who are currently being prescribed Betaferon. Data collected centrally relates only to prescribed items dispensed by community pharmacists and dispensing doctors. It does not specify individual patient data and information on the number of patients given specific drugs in hospitals is not available centrally.

  In 1995, guidance about new drugs for multiple sclerosis, and clinical advice from the Standing Medical Advisory Committee, was issued to all Health Boards. The guidance asked Health Boards, in consultation with other key interests, to develop and implement local arrangements to manage the entry of these drugs into the NHS and, in particular, to instigate and continue prescribing through hospitals.

  The implementation of that guidance is a matter for each Health Board.

Housing

Mr Keith Raffan (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are claiming housing benefit in each local authority area in the current financial year; and what were the figures for the same period in (a) 1974; (b) 1979; (c) 1988 and (d) 1996.

Ms Wendy Alexander: This information is not collected by the Scottish Executive. However, information supplied by the Department of Social Security is published in the Scottish Office Statistical Bulletin (Housing Series). The most recent information, relating to the number of recipients of Housing Benefit in the financial year 1997-98, is given in the Housing Trends Quarterly Bulletin published in March 1999 (HSG/1999/1). Information for 1996-97 is also given in the relevant Quarterly Bulletin (HSG/1997/7). Information for 1988 is not available from this source and the Housing Benefit scheme had not been established in 1974 or 1979.

Housing

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to ensure that where local authorities transfer all or part of their housing stock, the statutory obligations imposed upon them for re-housing homeless people will be met.

Jackie Baillie: The operational responsibility for allocating houses must be transferred to new community landlords if they are genuinely to have control over their own affairs. Local authorities will, however, need to ensure that they have access to sufficient housing to enable them to meet their statutory obligations, including their duties in relation to homeless persons. The contract of sale between the authority and the acquiring landlord should clearly define the rights and responsibilities of both parties in this area. The Housing Green Paper invited views on whether there was a case for changing the legislation to introduce further safeguards for access for vulnerable groups and we are currently considering the responses.

Housing

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what arrangements are in place to audit the progress of projects funded under the New Housing Partnership.

Ms Wendy Alexander: These are set out in a letter issued to councils on 15 July 1999. A copy has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

Housing

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what were the projected number of properties (new build and improved, for rent, for sale or for part sale) planned under years one and two of the New Housing Partnership programme, as opposed to what has been achieved to date, and what is currently projected to be achieved.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Information on planned outputs from the New Housing Partnership programme is currently being collected from Scottish local authorities. I shall write to Ms Hyslop once this becomes available.

Housing

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what advice has been given to local authorities currently conducting feasibility studies into stock transfer as to the future status of the tenancy of their tenants after a successful stock transfer.

Ms Wendy Alexander: This is set out in the booklet New Housing Partnerships, the future for Scotland’s communities which was issued to all councils in June 1998. A copy has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. The Housing Green Paper sought views on the case for legislation to create a single social tenancy; we are currently considering the responses.

Housing

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it proposes to take to ensure that where a local authority proposes to transfer all of its housing stock, local communities will have ownership and control of the organisation to which the stock is transferred and its decision-making processes.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The transfer of tenanted local authority housing requires the consent of Scottish Ministers. In arriving at a view on the management structure of the new landlord, Ministers will take account of the views of tenants, Scottish Homes’ registration criteria and the local circumstances of the proposed transfer. Wherever possible, we would expect the day to day management and decision-making process to be devolved to local level.

Housing

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to Her Majesty’s Government about the impact of housing benefit reform on (a) council tenants, (b) housing association tenants and (c) private rented sector tenants in Scotland.

Ms Wendy Alexander: I refer to my answers of 14 July to Alex Neil (S1W-298) and Fergus Ewing (S1W-351). The implications of housing benefit reform for particular groups of tenants would depend on the nature and extent of any such reform.

Housing

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many households are currently excluded from re-housing by (a) council landlords and (b) housing associations because of previous rent or mortgage arrears.

Ms Wendy Alexander: This information is not held centrally.

Housing

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many households are currently excluded from housing by (a) local authority landlords and (b) housing association landlords because of previous anti-social behaviour.

Ms Wendy Alexander: This information is not held centrally.

Housing

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate it has made of the level of investment required to bring housing up to a modern standard in (a) the social rented sector, (b) the private rented sector, and (c) the owner occupied sector.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The 1996 Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) estimated that the minimum cost to repair and bring all occupied dwellings up to a fully modernised standard, including tackling Below Tolerable Standard dwellings, would be:

  £2,264 million in the social rented sector;

  £921 million in the private rented sector; and

  £4,373 million in the owner occupied sector

Housing

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to introduce common housing registers in all Scottish local authorities.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Housing Green Paper sought views on the need for common housing registers and made it clear that the Government looks to local authorities to take the lead in establishing them in their areas. In examining responses to the Green Paper we will consider how the Executive might support Councils in developing such registers.

Transport

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it intends to announce the findings of the review of trunk road schemes initiated in June 1997 by the Minister then responsible for transport.

Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive will wish to take stock of the Strategic Roads Review initiated by the UK Government and consider the role of such roads within the integrated and sustainable approach to transport described in Partnership for Scotland . Thereafter, we shall announce our proposals for trunk road developments.

Transport

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive to state what plans it has to upgrade the A80 road and what representations it has received from home-owners affected by previous proposals.

Sarah Boyack: Proposals for upgrading to motorway the A80 route between Stepps and Haggs to motorway are being considered within the Strategic Road Review. My answer to Mr Tosh on 26 June provides information on progress of the Review.

  The Scottish Executive has received representations from one home owner.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Holyrood

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Presiding Officer when it was first announced (a) that the cost of the proposed Scottish Parliament building at Holyrood would be £50 million plus VAT, fees etc. and (b) that the total financial provision for the Parliament building at Holyrood will be £90 million excluding landscaping.

Sir David Steel: The £50 million construction cost estimate (excluding fees and VAT) for the new Scottish Parliament building at Holyrood was first announced in Scottish Office Press Release No 29/98 issued on 9 January 1998. The £90 million financial provision was first announced as a grand total in the Presiding Officer’s paper circulated to all MSPs on 9 June. Previous answers to PQs provided combinations of the individual cost elements totalling £83.5million.

Holyrood

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Presiding Officer for an explanation of why no Traffic Impact Assessment has been submitted in respect of the Holyrood Parliament building planning application.

Sir David Steel: The Halcrow Fox Transport Impact Assessment was submitted on 11 June as supplementary information to the Notice of Proposed Development (Reserved Matters)" application, which was registered in May 1999. It is available for public inspection at the City of Edinburgh Council Planning Department, 1 Cockburn Street, Edinburgh.